What Is A Virtual Private Network?
A VPN allows you to connect your machine to a virtual network which in turn encrypts the datayou send, hiding everything from the public domain. A good VPN will keep no records of your browsing history, meaning you’re essentially an anonymous user.
A free VPN service designed for use with Windows and Mac computers. ProXPN works by downloading a small free application from which to connect. The service is also compatible withthe iPhone and other mobile phones that support VPN.
Interestingly you can use the iPhone setup instructions to make a connection from your PC, useful if you’re a Linux user.
GPass
The GPass service provides free VPN access as well as an impressive fast web proxy to use directly in your browser. The service is very popular in China where internet censorship is commonplace.
AnchorFree Hotspot Shield
Offering a free VPN solution for Windows, Mac and iPhone (and possibly other systems using theiPhone login information) Hotspot Shield boasts “unlimited bandwidth” to those who need it.
Its Hidden
Originally established as a safeguard for filesharers, Its Hidden offers a competitive free service as well as paid solutions offering better contention (less users per server), professional support and dedicated IP addresses.
Registration is required, and once you’ve signed up you can connect to the service directly through your operating system by following the set-up guide, with no additional software required. The service is compatible with any operating system you happen to be using that supports VPN.
SecurityKiss
The free package provided by SecurityKiss brings you 300MB of data transfer per day, but provides an uncapped line with plenty of speed. You’ll need the SecurityKiss software to access the service, and this is only compatible with Windows.
Best Free VPN Service
Solely for use through your existing OS, mobile or VPN application, Best Free VPN changes its password every 12 to 24 hours to help maintain fairness for users. It’s not the speediest service around, offering only 512Kbit/s down and 256Kbit/s up.
The service doesn’t allow P2P services (no BitTorrent then) but it should suffice if you need to do any covert surfing.
Conclusion
Free things are great, but they’re also subject to a lot of use by the community. If you’re encountering problems with any of the above then you’re just better off moving on and trying another.
If you’re really serious about security (and accessing your home PCs from anywhere) then you’ll probably want to invest in a paid VPN service.
Do you use VPN? Had any luck with free services, or have you gone paid? Let us know in the comments.
